1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a razor and more specifically, to a disposable razor cartridge having a blade guard that features a dimpled finish which promotes better shaving by adhering to the skin and providing reservoirs for shaving preparations.
2. Description of the Related Art
In order to promote better and smoother shaving it has been proposed to provide disposable cartridges with a variety of measures such as multiple blades, resilient blade supporting arrangements, pivotable mounts, and the like. It has also been proposed to provide strips of material that secrete shaving aid material to facilitate the shaving experience.
One such example is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,092,042, issued on Mar. 3, 1992 in the name of Miller et al. This arrangement features a strip that acts as a guard, which is located at the leading edge of the cartridge, and which is formed with a series of spaced oval-shaped apertures and transversely extending ridges. The ridges intersectingly cross and intercommunicate the oval-shaped apertures. The purpose of the ridges is to provide a friction-increasing effect which, in combination with a similar effect provided by the edges of the apertures, tensions the skin immediately upstream of the first of two blades and to move shave aid material toward the edge of the blade and the surface of the skin which is being traversed by the blades.
Another proposal disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,056,222 issued on Oct. 15, 1991, also to Miller et al. contains a guard strip which is extruded from a mixture of water-insoluble matrix material such as polystyrene and a water-leachable polymeric shaving aid material such as polyethylene glycol and a polyethylene oxide. This guard strip is also provided with apertures and ridges to provide friction enhancement while transferring the polymeric shaving aid material to the face immediately upstream of the cutting edges of the dual blade arrangement which is used. In this arrangement, the apertures are essentially rectangular in shape and are shaped so as to be open at the leading end to permit shaving cream or the like to enter and accumulate therein.
However, these arrangements, while providing advancements in shaving technology, have suffered from the drawback that still further improvements in skin tensioning are required and that the technique of dragging ridged surfaces over the skin has limits which cannot be exceeded without running the risk of and abrasive uncomfortable sensation being imparted to the person shaving.
It is an object of the invention to provide a shaving guard for a razor cartridge which features a unique approach to skin tensioning and which is both simple and inexpensive to manufacture.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a shaving guard for a razor cartridge which uses a plurality of discrete concavities which are able to act as suction cups that grasp the skin and produce an adhesion between the guard and the skin which cannot be produced by dragging ridged members thereover.
It is a still further object of the invention to provide a shaving guard wherein, in addition to the discrete concavities providing the suction cup effect, the concavities also contain a reserve of shaving preparations for release during multiple passes over the same area and thus provide a so called xe2x80x9csoap barxe2x80x9d effect.
In brief, these objects are achieved by an arrangement wherein, in order to improve adhesion between the skin and a razor guard provided at the leading edge of a razor cartridge, the guard is provide with a large number of small concavities. These are preferably, but not to limited to, hemispherically shaped concavities and are discrete so as to isolated from one another. These concavities can act as suction cups that increase the adhesion between the skin and the guard and thus tension the skin as the razor is drawn thereover. These concavities or dimples can also contain a reserve of shaving preparation for release on multiple passes over the same area.